2 major U.K. airports order military-grade anti-drone equipment

London's Gatwick and Heathrow airportshave ordered military-grade anti-drone defences worth "severalmillion pounds" after drones caused three days of disruption atGatwick last month, the airports confirmedThursday.

"While I can't go into detail about exactly what we have, Ican confirm this was an investment of several million pounds toensure we are at an equivalent level to that provided by theArmed Forces," a Gatwick spokesperson said in an emailedstatement.

Gatwick said the new equipment had been in place for over aweek. The statement did not give further details.

Heathrow, Europe's busiest airport, also said it had orderedthe equipment. It said it was working closely with authoritiesincluding the police and looking at relevant technology tocombat the threat of drones.

U.K. Transport Minister Chris Grayling met police, aviation anddefence chiefs on Thursday to discuss the issue, according to the Times of London, which first reported the orders.

Drone sightings caused chaos last month at Gatwick,Britain's second busiest airport, disrupting the travel plans oftens of thousands of people in the run-up to Christmas.

The incident led to about 1,000 flight cancellations andaffected the travel of 140,000 passengers. It revealed avulnerability that is being scrutinized by security forces andairport operators worldwide.

The military was drafted to deploy specializedequipment,enabling authorities to reassure the airport that it was safefor planes to take off and land. Media reportssuggested the technology that was used to combat the dronedisruption included the Israeli-designed Drone Dome system.

Security Minister Ben Wallace said late last month thatBritain's security forces had detection systems that could bedeployed throughout the country to combat the threat of drones.